The Adventures of Bitey Dog!

When I started teaching Geordie to spin, we hadn't learned to talk that well yet. To get him to spin, I used a toy and had him follow it in a tight circle. I would say "Spin", he would follow, then I would give him a reward. We practiced and practiced, but he wouldn't do the spin without the toy. One day, I finally got frustrated and threw my hands up and said, "Why won't you spin?" I was totally not expecting it, but he understood my question, and he answered me! He took his toy, shoved it into my hand and gestured that "Spin means follow the toy, doesn't it?" I gasped, "Ooooh!" with the accompanying look of comprehension on my face. From that moment on, he spun without the lure. I finally understood that he thought I wanted him to follow the toy, and he understood that I am an idiot. That was one of the first breakthroughs we had in talking. Now when I want to teach him a new trick, I can largely use English to explain what I want him to do. I will repeat myself once or twice so that he knows that I am teaching and to let him get used to the sound of the words.

He likes when we use words to play Find the Biscuit. I will hide one, then send him to go find it. He gives up early and asks me for hints and clues to where it is. The other day, I learned more about how he understands my words. I told him to make a left turn, and he did, but he thought I meant that the food would be right there. I learned to tell him, "Left turn. Walk, walk." So, he turned, then took two steps and then found the biscuit. He is such a little smarty!

In previous years, I would wrap Geordie's Christmas presents and hide them in a closet, saving them for the holiday. This year, his joined everyone else's under the tree as part of the decorations. I figured they would be safe because he is very good at leaving things alone that aren't his.

Yesterday, however, when I was busy doing something else, Geordie got into the Christmas presents but good. He used his claw to tear each one open enough to stick his nose in and check it out. He kept opening until he found one for himself. Then he unwrapped it and played with it. By today, his new stuffed puppy has been ripped in half, the squeaker torn out, and his ears pulled off. Hey, at least someone is having a good time at Christmas!

(I could picture him thinking, as he opened each gift: "This one is too hard. This one is too soft. But this one is juuust right!")

Oh goodness, I have to tell you my Geordie story from last night! Since it has been raining, Geordie has a touch of cabin fever. Last night, he didn't want to go to bed but wanted to run around and play with toys. We chased one after another, and he chewed on a few. At one point, I reached into his toy box and took out Brown Puppy. I may have mentioned this toy before. I am partial to it, and Geordie knows it. When he really wants me to play with him, he will bring me that one as a lure. So, I took out Brown Puppy and I made him wag his tail and do a few tricks. I held him close and scratched his ears. Geordie hates the trick, "smile". I try to get him to smile, but he won't, so I touch his whiskers and it makes his lips draw back. Anyway, this toy puppy has a big grin on his face, and I showed Geordie Puppy's big "smile". That made him angry. Later, I was trying to convince Geordie to go to bed, so I showed him how Puppy was going to bed. I brought the toy into the bedroom and set it on my sweatshirt. I thought that maybe Geordie would curl up next to the toy and sleep. What did he do, though? As soon as he saw the puppy on "his" bed, he stomped into the bedroom, grabbed the puppy, dragged it into the hallway and threw it on the ground! He always gets jealous when I show any attention to the toy, but he usually doesn't evict it from the room! I was laughing sooo hard on the inside, but I didn't want him to know I was laughing at him. You know how self-conscious dogs can be when they know you are laughing at them!

Last year a one of our neighbors adopted a shepherd dog. He is a very handsome, very good dog and would sit watching the family, not barking or jumping or acting up. Whenever Geordie would go out and see him, Geordie would do his loud, trash-talk bark to let the shepherd know he was there. The shepherd would simply sit and ignore him.

After Christmas when it snowed, the first thing Geordie did was run outside and start calling for the shepherd to come and play. The other dog wasn't outside, but Geordie kept calling and calling. Now, whenever Geordie goes outside and the shepherd is out too, the other dog jumps and barks and greets Geordie. Oh dear, my boy has corrupted the nicest dog in the neighborhood! (I know who won't be sending us a Christmas card next year.)

Usually when Geordie and I return to the house, he runs right up to the door so that he can get in first. For some reason yesterday, he hung back a little and watched with great interest as I knocked the snow from my boots before going up to the door. After he had seen what I did, he walked back on to the sidewalk, shook hiss fur to knock the snow off, then went back to the door. I thought that was so cute! He can learn so quickly when he wants to.

Tuesday during the day, it was actually pretty warm. Maybe close to 50. I took little Geordie for a walk, and when he was tired, we went back home. After I dropped him off, I grabbed some shopping bags and walked to the store. I wanted to get some fresh fruits and veggies because the forecast was calling for the biggest snow of the season overnight. They were anticipating 4-6" for this area. They were wrong, though. We got 12-14"!!! It was sooo beautiful! I kept peeking out the windows at night, watching everything change and turn such beautiful colors. I wanted to grab Geordie and go adventuring, but I was afraid he would start barking and wake the neighbors. Around 5 or 5:30, I could hear the neighbor taking his dog out (arf! arf!) and scraping off is car. That woke Geordie up, too, and he was rarin' to go like a kid on Christmas. I got dressed in a bunch of layers, and the two of us headed out in the pre-dawn to go see what we could see.

He flew out the door and into snow that was nearly as tall as he was! To get around, he does this leaping thing that makes you hear "Boing! Boing! Boing!" in you head as he goes. Then, just for fun, he would decide to tunnel through the tall snow. Then back to boinging. We went all over and messed up all of the smooth, white snow. We boinged down the hill, but when it came time to go back up, he was running out of steam. I may have mentioned before how funny it is to see a lightweight dog in loose snow. They aren't heavy enough to compress it, but they aren't light enough to walk on top. They end up doing something that looks like the doggie paddle and swimming through the snow. So, my boy "swam" back up the hill.

For a while, he just wanted to sit and look at everything, so we sat. I had to coax him to go for a walk with me, but he finally came. (I think what was intimidating him was having to get over the big lump of snow that the plow had pushed up along the side of the road. ) We ran down the middle of the snowy street and on some of our favorite side roads. We stopped to look at the little duck pond a heard dozens of geese arguing about something. By the time we got home, Geordie was so covered with snow that he couldn't bend his arms or legs. At one point, he just stood in the snow and whimpered.

Oh, I forgot, when he was having trouble getting back up the hill and was "swimming", I offered to go ahead of him and pack the snow. (I had noticed that he was walking in his original footprints.) As soon as I got ahead of him, he stopped and gave me this totally angry look. So, I stepped out of his path, and he swam more. I tried walking on his path again, and again he stopped and glared at me. How funny! He didn't want me in front helping him!

At the end of the walk when I tried to unhook his long leash, I wasn't able to grab hold of it. Geordie, of course, wasn't making things easy by being still. After much tugging and pulling I found that the leash had become enmeshed in the snow on his stomach. It was totally embedded there! My poor little guy. If we both hadn't been so totally covered with snow, I would have tried to get my camera. Oh well, we will just have to remember this day! We both had a lot of fun and have spent most of the day napping after it. The funny thing is, after the snow, the temps went up to 50, and most of the snow has already melted. Whoever heard of such a wussy storm?!

This afternoon, Geordie came to me wanting to go for a walk, so I grabbed his leash and took him out. We had barely gotten started when a lady in a van pulled up and asked if we had seen her little black dog that had escaped. At the time, we hadn't, but as soon as she pulled away, there the pup was! So, Geordie and I chased after her van to let her know about the sighting. Afterwards, we followed behind to make sure she found her dog. I know from past experience that whenever a dog gets loose, he or she will inevitably run to Geordie. As the dogs socialize, it is easier to catch the little sneaky runaway. Fortunately, as the little dog was running toward Geordie, her Mom caught her and put her in the van. It was so cute when the little girl realized she was caught in the act of being naughty. Her ears went down to half mast, and she gave that low, guilty wag. By the time he Mom reached her, she was practically on her back as she kept rolling over. What did Mom do? She scooped up her little lady and hugged her so close. Mom wasn't angry, she was just so happy to see her girl safe.

There was another person helping to look for the dog, and we were able to tell her that all was well. Geordie was so excited by everything that he made me take him on a really long walk to burn off his extra energy. Had my boy not needed to potty at that exact time, we may have missed this chance to help keep a little pup safe.

Yesterday Geordie and I were walking down the street when I saw a pup I didn't recognize sniffing around a neighbor's mailbox. I called out, "Little puppy, are you supposed to be there?" The little dog turned and got such an excited look on her face, then ran over. She was jumping up and sniffing and wagging, and I kept talking to her to keep her with me while her Mom pulled up in a car behind her. The poor lady had two other pups in the car already as well as one in her hand. Mom scooped up her wayward girl and put her in the car, then showed me the little puppy she is sitting for this week. The pup is a Bichon/Poodle mix, and she must be only 8 or 9 weeks old. Oh my, she was the cutest little ball of fluff ever! If Geordie ever gets a little sister, she may have to be one of those adorable little dogs.

In the meantime, we saved yet another puppy from possibly being hurt while on an afternoon adventure. Our good deed for the day is done!

(When Mom set up my Dogster account, she typed in the wrong date and never fixed it. Today is the right day.)

To celebrate, Grandma and Grandpa gave me a big bag of yummy mixed biscuits. (I've already conned Mom into giving me three.) Then we went for a looong walk in the sunshine. While we were out, we met a lady who gave me yet another biscuit to eat. Then I met a new girl puppy in the neighborhood. She is a Husky/German Shepherd mix and promises to be a real beauty when she grows up. We liked each other and sniffed politely.

After we met the little girl dog, we kept walking until we reached one of the churches in town. Mom was mystified at first why I wanted to go there until the heavenly aroma of roast beef drew her near. I was positive - POSITIVE - that smell was for me! So, I walked right up the front steps of the church, planted my butt there and refused to move. Mom kept trying to coax me, but I absolutely refused to go. In the end, Mom had to pick me up, throw me over her shoulder and carry me back down the steps. Really, this whole misunderstanding is Mom's fault. If she did a better job of teaching me to read, I would have been able to read the sign that said this was a fundraising dinner, not an honorary birthday dinner.

Anyway, when Mom and I got home, she gave me a Frosty Paw to cool me down. A pup couldn't ask for a better day!! Well, except maybe for a belly rub. Perhaps I can con Mom into one of those before bedtime!

What is your pup's favorite game? Is it chasing a tennis ball? Tug of War? Find the Treat? If Geordie were a human, his favorite game would be called, "Playing Barbies". His favorite thing is for us to pretend that one of his stuffed animals is real so that he can interact with it.

Last night, Geordie brought me his little yellow puppy to play with. After a while, he stopped to rest, so I took the little puppy and pretended that it was playing with his Kong. I would roll the Kong around and pretend that the puppy was eating treats that fell out by making "nom, nom, nom" noises over the imaginary food. You wouldn't believe how mad my boy got! Then I made the toy pretend to eat his kibble by dipping its nose in the bowl and clinking the food around. Ach! Too much to bear! Geordie was huffing and glaring and sticking out his lower teeth at the toy, but he didn't do anything until I looked away. As soon as he thought my attention was off the toy, he ran over and hit it. Then when I didn't say anything, he grabbed the toy and ran, shaking and shaking it! It amuses me no end what an imagination this dog has!! It makes me wary of introducing a little brother or sister to him. I worry what sneaky things he would do to the pup when my attention was off them.